LJ’s I own a Craftsman 12” band saw which I have learned recently to set up and adjust to achieve super cuts, and have re sawn some 3-4” wide boards to less than 1/4” veener strips; however, I am interested in acquiring a better blade than my current Olsen 3TPI 1/2” blade. The Wood Slicer has been recommended in several previous forum entries, but it comes in 801/2” length not 80” as my saw requires. Might I expect to be able to achieve the necessary tension to properly resaw with it. I’ve used a 5/8” blade sucessfully in the past even though the manuual says not to exceed 1/2”. The Chattanooga company that used to weld blades for me from bulk stock is no longer in business.

We are in the exact same situation! We must have the same 12” Craftsman band saw because this past weekend I was looking online for a Wood Slicer blade and my saw requires an 80” blade also. I will look forward to someone giving an answer to this :)

-- "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." -- Pablo Picasso

Take a piece of string, 80” long and see if your saw will tighten that much. Actually, tighten it all the way and measure. I’d be surprised if 1/2” would make that much difference. Both my bandsaw have a couple inch travel.

Your bandsaw unless it is very poorly designed should be able to accept an extra half inch without too much problem.IMHO I really cannot see this as a problem ask the manufacturer to be safe but I would not let a small deviation of that amount worry me.There should be more room to tension than a half an inch. see what others say.Alistair